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2 Speed Math for Kids
child has attended one of my classes or read my books. Th e child not
only does much better in math, but also works much harder. Why is
this? It is simply because the child sees results for his or her eff orts.
Often parents and teachers will tell the child, “Just try. You are
not trying.” Or they tell the child to try harder. Th is just causes
frustration. Th e child would like to try harder but doesn’t know
how. Usually children just don’t know where to start. Both child and
parent become frustrated and angry.
I am going to teach you, with this book, not only what to do but
how to do it. You can be a mathematical genius. You have the ability
to perform lightning calculations in your head that will astonish
your friends, your family and your teachers. Th is book is going to
teach you how to perform like a genius—to do things your teacher,
or even your principal, can’t do. How would you like to be able to
multiply big numbers or do long division in your head? While the
other kids are writing the problems down in their books, you are
already calling out the answer.
Th e kids (and adults) who are geniuses at mathematics don’t have
better brains than you—they have better methods. Th is book is
going to teach you those methods. I haven’t written this book like a
schoolbook or textbook. Th is is a book to play with. You are going
to learn easy ways of doing calculations, and then we are going to
play and experiment with them. We will even show off to friends
and family.
When I was in ninth grade I had a mathematics teacher who inspired
me. He would tell us stories of Sherlock Holmes or of thriller movies
to illustrate his points. He would often say, “I am not supposed to
be teaching you this,” or, “You are not supposed to learn this for
another year or two.” Often I couldn’t wait to get home from school
to try more examples for myself. He didn’t teach mathematics like
the other teachers. He told stories and taught us short cuts that
would help us beat the other classes. He made math exciting. He
inspired my love of mathematics.
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